BENGALURU: It is not where you live, but what you do that matters,” says Professor K C Janardhan who has a unique museum inside his home for handwriting and calligraphy.
Located in Bengaluru’s old Fort area, J’s La Quill was inaugurated on February 4 by Italian Ambassador Lorenzo Angeloni and D H Shankaramurthy, Chairman, Karnartaka Legislative Council.
The museum has a rare collection of 600 writing instruments and accessories including quills and nibs from the oldest companies such as Waverly and Joseph Gilliot, ink wells and bottles of various shapes and colours, pens, paper weights, writing tablets and writing tables. There is also an enviable stack of rare books and journals on handwriting and calligraphy.
Professor Janardhan, who came to this city 29 years ago, is the most sought-after expert in handwriting and calligraphy and has trained professionals from all walks of life in the art. He is perhaps the only Indian to calligraph his own passport.
Janardhan has also wielded his pen over his daughter’s birth certificate and father‘s death certificate.
He started with calligraphy in the 1980s and in a few years took it up as a profession. Janardhan was his own master and he picked up his lessons by travelling around the world -- the United States of America, Britain, Australia, Europe and Middle East. He later delivered lectures, conducted workshops and seminar, and runs institution on handwriting and calligraphy registered in London.
Janardhan is more than an expert in calligraphy. He coaches corporate executives and college students in public speaking and business management.
To him, calligraphy has a spiritual dimension. “It makes the head, heart and hand work together in harmony,” he says.
Janardhan plans a gift shop with calligraphed name plates, book markers, rocker-style ink blotters, brass-nibbed pens and so on, and training centre for children and adults.
He teaches Italian style of calligraphy and insists that it takes six to eight years to learn it. The lessons cover letters and alphabet architecture, among other things.
Calligraphy is a powerful method of communication, he says, unlike the digital options that are “good for mass communication”. Janardhan urges youngsters to give this art a chance.
“It helps de-stress and better visualisation skills. Calligraphy teaches you patience in this highly impatient world,” he says.
Being a survivor of epilepsy, Janardhan wants to set up a support centre for the condition too.